


By Your Side

by AtLeastWeWontBeLonelyInHell



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, dark&twisty, re-post from 2013, smug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtLeastWeWontBeLonelyInHell/pseuds/AtLeastWeWontBeLonelyInHell
Summary: He’s different now and it has nothing to do with moving on. He’s acting like nothing ever happened to begin with and that scares the hell out of her. Because something did happen and she seems to be the only one who remembers.She takes another sip from her bourbon, savoring the familiar burning in her throat. Wondering what he would tell her if he knew how she spends her nights.





	By Your Side

**Author's Note:**

> And a BIG special thank you goes to the wonderful clairebare for beta reading!

**By Your Side**

**.**

**.**

_Texas._

What the hell had she been thinking?

Apparently she hadn’t been thinking at all and that’s why she’s sitting at a bar in Austin and not in front of a beautiful fireplace in Cannon River.

With a sigh Teresa Lisbon puts her empty glass back down on the counter, giving the barkeeper a sign for a refill.

She’s worked with the FBI for six months now, but it feels like a lifetime. And though she never thought she would say it, she’s missing her small town office.

And yes, she even misses her uniform. At least she didn’t have to bother with what to wear for work. And haunting down bicycle thieves hadn’t been so bad either.

In Cannon River she never had to worry about not surviving the day or that her work would follow her home. It had been only a job and when she got home she could be herself.

She remembers the day she joined the FBI, how she told Jane that her work had been boring anyway. But now she dreams about serial killers again, wakes up screaming in the dead of the night. And she longs for her work to be boring again.

That’s one of the reasons why she’s sitting in her favorite bar, instead of sleeping in her bed.

With a thankful smile she takes her newly filled glass from Peter, before looking at her phone. And she can’t help but groan, when she spots the eight missed calls from Jane.

She thinks about calling him back. But as much as it hurts her to admit it, she doesn’t want to.

Things have changed between them. Working with him isn’t how it used to be and it’s not even how she thought it would be. She didn’t realize it at first, but now it’s obvious that he isn’t the same anymore.

Of course he’s closing cases, even faster than he did before. But the man she met in the CBI office hallway almost 13 years ago is gone.  _(And after all, that had been the man she’d fallen in love with)._

He’s different now and it has nothing to do with moving on. He’s acting like nothing ever happened to begin with and that scares the hell out of her. Because something did happen and she seems to be the only one who remembers.

She takes another sip from her bourbon, savoring the familiar burning in her throat. Wondering what he would tell her if he knew how she spends her nights.

No, of course she’s not doing it every night. She knows better than that as the daughter of an alcoholic.  _(At least that’s what she keeps telling herself)._

„Do you mind if I join you for a drink?“

She’s startled by a husky voice right beside her. Looking up she finds a middle aged man in a grey suit, watching her with hazel eyes. Undoubtedly in search of adventure.

_(Exactly what she had been waiting for)._

„Of course not,“ she answers him with a smile.

**.**

**.**


End file.
